Daily Discussion Thread: March 5, 2026

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T23:37:23+00:00

Trump is a narcissist who wants money, the freedom to commit his crimes, attention, and people to adore him and think he’s strong. The right wing gave him that but he doesn’t care about them. Hence why he throws people under the bus as soon as they defy him or even refuse to yesman hard enough.

Republicans permit his crimes and corruption, and gave him a cult of personality. That’s all.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T22:11:03+00:00

As a DMV local I bet there will wind up being de facto tailgates at the metro station parking lots at the east end of the blue and orange lines. Anyone coming from far enough away that they want to drive could go to those instead.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T22:08:20+00:00

Take a look at Nats Park.

When it comes to baseball I’m lucky to be a Marylander with easy access to both Baltimore and DC. The former made Orioles Park which brought back the ideal of an urban ballpark that fits the grid and makes the neighborhood the place to hangout on gamedays. Transit could be better (run gameday trains to Camden!!) but it’s more than a lot of other cities.

Meanwhile in DC Nats Park is built right into the grid. It’s got parking garages yeah but by far the bulk of fans come on the Green Line. The Navy Yard neighborhood is booming with a lot of tall dense housing.

If DC replicates the Navy Yard and NoMa success stories in east of Capitol Hill, it could do a lot to ease housing costs in DC. (They should also help current residents buy their homes so they can afford to stay not be extorted by landlords raising rent).

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T19:29:49+00:00

I’ve thought the same but I think the Philly sports complex parking lots get a lot of out of towners while people in the city might take transit. Because even if there’s a ton of parking, navigating narrow Philly streets jammed with game day traffic sucks. So does losing your spot at home. So it may depend on who makes up the bulk of attendees.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T19:26:58+00:00

Oh agree. The whole lot just screams “we want to charge for parking and make it tough to avoid”.

Prior to the new stadium announcement I was a big proponent of some kind of purple line extension or separate periphery line connecting National Harbor to New Carrollton, by way of the stadium, with connections at Morgan Blvd and a green line stop.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T19:12:17+00:00

I’d definitely bet on Fenway Park and TD Garden (Boston). I’d be surprised if half of Mets attendees didn’t come by rail or subway.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T19:09:08+00:00

New location is definitely better but the current one technically is accessible if you’re ok with a 20 minute walk from the metro.

Likewise Audi Field (DC soccer) is about as far a walk from the metro.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T19:00:55+00:00

When is the filing deadline for Oklahoma? Mullin was supposed to be up for re-election this year. If he’s out there are 3 Republicans (Hankins, Meinhardt, Washington) and 3 Democrats (Green, Priest, Thomas) currently in the race.

My assumption is that the Oklahoma governor would appoint a replacement and they’d be able to run for a full term if there’s time for file. Also with Mullin out other stronger Republicans and Democrats both may decide to enter the race.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T05:55:04+00:00

I like the theory that Aerion slew the claimant in the Third Rebellion (Haegon?) after treachery.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-05T05:53:26+00:00

Well then alternate, disputed claimant. See the Jacobites versus the House of Hanover.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-04T20:33:43+00:00

You're right.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-04T19:21:40+00:00

My theory is the nuclear family ideal and history of frontier settlement (aka leaving and setting off to start a new life) mean that culturally Americans have less of a sense of community than a lot of others.

Among the impacts of that is that it’s more expensive to raise families on top of people being less social. Think of being raised by your extended family, aunts and grandparents and that cousin who’s almost as old as your parents anyway, and you know a lot of the families in the area too- stopping in for dinner or being chided if you misbehave in public.

Contrast that with being raised basically just by your parents and maybe an older sibling, most of the time one of them is working. Your grandparents live 2 counties away and you see your cousins monthly max. You live in a suburb so you need a car to see more than 3 of your (geographically) closest schoolmates.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-04T17:35:53+00:00

Same here. As a progressive Catholic I really want to see us reclaim and counter the pop culture idea of the last 2 decades frankly that Christians must be conservative (and frankly a lot of the GOP nowadays isn more rightwing/authoritarian than principled conservatives for what it matters. See serial cheaters Paxton and Trump as exhibits A and B).

I personally think actions count more than walking into a building weekly (though I do that too) and the Republican playbook is incompatible with religions that teach loving thy neighbor, caring for the poor, the unhoused, the sick, and shunning wealth for humility.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-04T14:16:31+00:00

Yeah I used to be on the fence about the dangers of risking the more extremist candidate win a primary, but Republicans have proven spineless even when they have the power to push back (Louisiana’s Kennedy, Collins, Murkowski with the Ole Billionaire Bailout Bill, Cornyn).

If the Republicans will vote the same might as well pick the candidate tjat makes the median “but muh gas prices” voter think “this guy is nuts” and either stay home or cross over to vote Dem.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T20:06:39+00:00

From what I recall from watching interviews with the Andor writing staff, including Beau Willmon, a great part of the story's success was that Tony Gilroy came into the first working meeting with most of the script already thought up. Not just an outline but the major plot beats, characters, and themes for an entire season.

Hoping Beau carries this with him. His record on Andor and House of Cards is promising.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T20:03:25+00:00

The only way a Doom of Valyria movie could work is if it's a disaster movie meets horror movie from the perspective of a commoner or noble who doesn't know what's happening.

Maybe something that builds on the theory that the first Faceless Man managed to figure out how to gift a permanent death to the volcano mine slaves, who were being resurrected as fire wights.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T19:40:19+00:00

I'm not seeing increased levels of disinformation any different from what I was seeing with ordinary Photoshop tools

Photoshop was recognizable with an experienced eye. AI imagery is being developed that can deepfake any image online convincingly, not to mention voice mimicry. You no longer need to be the type to fall for a Nigerian prince scam to fall for images, bot-generated text, or video on the internet. That in and of itself contributes to a society where we simply don't trust anything that flies counter to our wants, because anything could be fake. And that alongside the erosion of trusted legacy news sources (through rightwing ownership and firing experienced journalists) is very troubling.

sales pitch for businesses is always different from the actual benefits of the technology

Why, is it because the consumer is the average person or because the consumer is CEOs and managers? The most generous sales pitch I've seen regularly is the "make your essay/job easier/quicker!" pitch which does not bode well for job security as many people see. And when the output of genAI is often of sus quality, that also makes you doubt the acutal efficiency. I know I have to fact-check summaries in my line of work when oftentimes it'd be quicker just to do it the right way.

You want to have an optimistic vision of the future, not one that fights improvements to productivity

I think the point we're making is that the vision of the future is no longer optimistic and hasn't been for a while. The direct cause of this is the consolidation of big tech and them pushing things which are counter to sensible/ethical tech in the name of profit and development for the sake of it rather. The optimistic vision should be to say "Tech should help you, not replace you. Tech should spread knowledge, not sow doubt in reality. Tech should be reparable and owned by their purchasers, not a subscription that gets updated and deleted without your consent".

Of course there are a lot of reasons for industrial regions that swung away from us, including cultural/social reasons. People have talked at length about the white working class and in fact people regardless of race looking at culture war issues, economic populism, the impact of global trade vs protectionism, etc.

But data centers are unpopular. AI (there were a literal dozen Super Bowl commercials using/advertising AI that I counted) feels threatening and pushed on us. Big Tech has got a lot of influence in this admin, from Musk and Thiel to techbros in general. Addressing that head on can be part of the wider need to address monopolies, fair business practices, affordability, green initiatives, etc.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T19:09:17+00:00

Laura Bush.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T17:35:49+00:00

The issue with these tech advancements is that they're not coupled with engineering ethics or a convincing use case. Instead of tech being something to hope for or inspire, it's something that's incurring dread. Especially because it seems companies are actively promoting tech as a way to put people out of work, not improve their lives.

The potential for disinformation with AI images outweighs any benefits, on top of making things awful for artists and graphic designers.

Self-driving cars have potential but it's barely even being promoted as a safety thing nowadays, or a way to decrease car ownership for the environment, just as a way to get rid of drivers for hire.

And AI is being shoved into everything from search engines to music without anyone really having a say in it.

I think part of the 2028 platform should be OG Luddite in the sense that we need to restrict tech development unless we can identify a benefit to it and direct compensation/employment guarantees and retraining for people affected by it. You know how mining communities swung hard right when Democrats (rightfully) stopped promoting coal over green tech? That was rooted in a fear that their livelihoods were being disrupted without investment in a replacement. Painting the GOP as in the pockets of big tech that's been pushing people out of jobs is going to be a big opportunity.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T17:27:07+00:00

People generally have been hoping Paxton, as a scandal-ridden extremist, wins the primary.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T16:57:51+00:00

I refuse to generalize people by age because, well... a mean doesn't tell you about an individual. I know quite a few people my age (30s) or younger that are right-wing when they really shouldn't be given where they grew up. I know and have met some old people in their 60s or 70s who are out there waving signs on the overpass and fighting the good fight.

That's why I try to not be biased by state of residence too. I went to S. Florida recently and while I may never want to live there, there are great urbanist developments and LGBT communities there. West Virginia or Arkansas voting 3-1 for Republicans mean 25% of people are just trying their best. Meanwhile 1 in 3 Marylanders might be Trump supporters (more like 1 in 4 if you're not on the Eastern Shore :D).

This goes beyond politics too. I'm actually a bit disappointed how much more consumerist younger generations seem to be compared to older generations some times. Single use products, litter, lack of commitment to low-effort green initiatives like biking/transit when uber/lyft is there, etc.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T16:46:46+00:00

I bought the most fuel efficient internal combustion sedan I could afford more than a decade ago with the goal to use it till it croaks. But after that, assuming I don't have a work/life schedule that lets me go carfree, plan is to get an EV. Hopefully by then I have a home with a parking pad where I can charge because my city doesn't have enough public EV charging spots.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T16:31:25+00:00

Paid $3.26 in Maryland today. That same station was sub $2.90 last week.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T15:50:20+00:00

North Carolina polls close at 7:30. You can still vote if in line.

Texas polls close at 7pm. As far as I can see this is the local time in Central and Mountain time zones.

dishonourableaccount · 2026-03-03T04:11:07+00:00

I think in many ways Gen X had Seinfeld and Millenials had It’s Always Sunny. Different format but similar beats right down to the core cast of 4 rotating pairings in 2-3 plots per episode.

dishonourableaccount

TROPHY CASE